


By The Campfire Light

by junailens



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/F, Friendship, Mutual Pining, Self-Discovery, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Texting, Wholesome, Yuru Camp AU, group chats, iyashikei
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-03-09 14:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13483479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junailens/pseuds/junailens
Summary: Rinko loves winter. Almost every time, she can have the campground to herself. No one to bother her, no one for her to bother. Yes, camping off-season is the best.Until she meets a girl who makes her rethink her perspective.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> well guys i've been wanting to write this since i first watched yuru camp like two weeks ago (seriously adorable anime i highly reccommend it, it's titled "Laid Back Camp" on crunchyroll) and i've been wanting to write some tomorinko for a long time, and I thought this was the perfect AU for them!! hope you enjoy ^.^

Rinko let a breath out of her mouth. Watching the white fog quickly dissipate, she pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. It was cold, but that only meant it was less likely for there to be anyone else at the public campsite. She was going to her favorite today, a nice little spot situated right under Mt. Fuji that was almost always deserted by this time of year.

“Shirokane-san, right?”

Rinko was startled from her thoughts as she reached the administrative building of the campsite without even realizing it. She gave the worker a small smile, nodding her head as she walked her bike up to the window.

“One night, please,” her soft voice froze in the biting air as it passed her lips, but the worker heard.

“It’s colder than the last time you camped, make sure to let us know if you need anything, and stay safe!” He advised, going back to his book as Rinko began to walk off. As she walked, her mind wandered beyond the forest path she was walking. She thought mostly of the food she had packed for dinner, instant ramen as always. She wished that it was easier to bring more complex food camping. Other than the ramen, all she had was raisins, and of course, milk to heat up and drink when night fell and the real cold set in.

A breeze ruffled her hair, and she smiled, humming to herself. She loved the wind, the sound the dry leaves made as they rustled on the ground, the fresh smelling air. What she loved most, of course, was the promise of solitude as she felt the bitter cold on her cheeks.

Camping off-season is the best, she thought.

She reached her normal spot, and propped up her bike on its stand. After setting up her campsite, she sat down in her folding chair, wrapping her blanket snug against her legs and pulling it up around her chest. Books were stacked a foot high on her stand, not because she thought she could read them all in a night but because she liked to have variety and options. She reached for one close to the top of the stack, carefully extracting it and opening it to her bookmark.

Untold hours of the lovely transitional season between autumn and winter had passed like this; the sun’s warmth faint but palpable on her skin when the wind allowed it to settle, no distractions of society or other humans, just Rinko, enjoying the fresh scent of the fallen, crunchy leaves mixed with books.

Three hours passed similarly before Rinko finished her book, checking the time on her phone. 4:50. The late time checked out, the sun was starting to fall behind the trees and get dimmer. Rinko wasn’t particularly hungry yet, but now seemed like a good time to go ahead and make dinner, before it got too dark or she got into her next book.

Igniting her small camp burner, she poured some water into the pot. As she ate, she checked her phone, reading through the messages in one of her group chats of her online game friends. They were planning a campaign for later tonight. She took a picture of the mountain, cloudy but still impressive, and sent it.

_Such a beautiful scene o(*^▽^*)o  Today’s weather is perfect for a nice cup of hot milk and finishing that book~! Good luck on your quest tonight, I’ve heard you need to do a lot of grinding for that one monster’s drops like we were doing yesterday, other than that it’s supposed to be pretty easy (´・ω・`)_

A few people immediately replied with cries of jealousy of her beautiful view, and she smiled.

After finishing her ramen, Rinko grabbed another book from her stack. She had only briefly glanced at the summary inside the cover, but it looked promising. As she read, she fell into the story, time slipping away until she read the same sentence three times over and realized that it had gotten dark. She turned on her lantern, marveling at the book that had kept her attention so rapturously that she had forgotten to take a picture of the sunset. It’s not like it was all that unusual, though. Rinko often found herself completely swept away by books, especially the fast-paced young adult genre ones like she was reading now. Although she liked mature, deep novels, she couldn’t resist the captivatingly simple passion of young adult fiction. She re-adjusted her blanket, pulling it as high around her shoulders as she could before nuzzling back into her chair and pulling her legs up, falling back into her book.

As time passed and the chapters flew by, Rinko began to get tired, She had forgotten her mini book light, so once she went into her tent she wouldn’t be able to read anymore. Weighing her odds, she decided to just finish this last chapter, and…

* * *

 “Hey, come back here!”

Rinko was drawn back from her sleep by the distant shout. Wearily, she rubbed her eyes, wondering who else was here, when suddenly, she was knocked off her chair.

Rinko tumbled into the cold grass as a huge dog jumped on her. Screaming, she was torn between batting it away and hiding her face, panic washing through her chest. It kept trying to get it’s face close to hers, but with shaking arms she pushed it away.

“Stop, stop!” She cried helplessly, until the dog was pulled off her chest.

“Bad dog, very bad dog!” Someone said, but Rinko was shaking too hard to really focus. She caught her breath as quickly as she could, but it was stolen away again as the other person kneeled by her, grabbing her shoulders and helping her sit up.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Rinko stared wide-eyed at the girl. Her blue-green eyes were the most expressive Rinko had ever seen, and they seemed to be filled with pure concern for her. Focusing so intently on her...

“I-I… I’m fine, sorry,” Rinko whispered, looking away. The girl’s hand was still on her shoulder, and although it felt nice, and the girl felt strong, Rinko could feel the anxiety of being so close to a person so suddenly starting to set in.

“No, no, it’s not your fault!” The girl said, giving her one last pat on the shoulder and letting go, allowing Rinko to let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “I was just watching my sister’s friend’s dog, and she just gets excited around new people. She’s totally harmless, just likes to lick, I think,” she gave the dog a bit of a disgusted look. “Kind of the complete opposite of her owner,” she laughed, and Rinko felt her heart flutter at the sound. Her voice was deep, but every word was sincere and joyful. She seemed so confident. The kind of person who would always know what to say, or be comfortable saying nothing, and the silence wouldn’t be awkward. Rinko was jealous. She wasn’t like that.

“Ah,” Rinko nodded, watching quietly as the girl pushed herself off the ground fluidly and walked over to the dog.

“My name is Tomoe, by the way,” the girl, Tomoe, said.

“M-my name is... Shirokane Rinko,” Rinko whispered. She watched with wide eyes as Tomoe knelt by the dog and cooed at it, petting it and making faces. Rinko wondered where Tomoe had come from, after all, she hadn’t seen any other tents or anything.

“Shirokane-san, nice to meet you!” Tomoe grinned at her.

“Nice to meet you… Tomoe-san,” Rinko found herself smiling, even though she was still a bit nervous.

“So, Shirokane-san,” Tomoe said suddenly, startling her. “Were you asleep just now, before Carrots ambushed you?”

Carrots…? An odd name for a dog, Rinko thought. “Um... yes... I-I guess I had... fallen asleep... reading,” she said. Rinko checked the time, but it was only just past eight.

“Wow,” her eyes widened. “I’m not a big reader myself, your book must have been good,” she laughed. She squatted down next to her dog, scratching her ears and playing with her. If Rinko didn’t get the feeling that Tomoe was very cautious and attentive to people, she might have thought that she forgot Rinko was even there.

“Aren’t you cold, by the way?  You don’t have a fire or anything,” Tomoe said, startling her again.

“Oh, um… I guess... I’m used to it, though,” Rinko shrugged. She pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Um, b-by the way,” she started, but tripped over her words when Tomoe looked up at her and they met eyes. Rinko looked down, fiddling with the hem of her blanket between her fingertips.  “By the way… are you... camping here tonight? I-It’s just that… I didn’t think anyone else was here,” she managed.

“Oh, no, I was just walking the dog. This park is so beautiful,” Tomoe awed, looking up and around.

“It’s usually better at night. It’s cloudy today... usually you can see the stars, and they're... they’re really p-pretty,” Rinko smiled. She was proud of herself for saying it, but it was always somehow easy for her to talk about camping.

“I bet,” Tomoe smiled back, warm and inviting, gentle. Rinko blushed.

Tomoe’s stomach interrupted the moment by growling loudly.

“Ah, sorry! I didn’t eat dinner before I came, I didn’t think I would be out so late but I just didn’t want to leave this park, you know?”

“I-It’s fine! Actually,” Rinko said, digging in her bag, pulling out another pack of ramen. She glanced at Tomoe, then looked down, awkwardly offering it to her.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t impose like that,” Tomoe shook her head, raising her hand as if to say, “it’s fine.”

“No, please, i-it’s no problem,” Rinko said, putting it down to start up her camp burner to heat up some water for it.

“Well then, thank you,” Tomoe hesitantly shifted toward Rinko, Carrots following curiously. Tomoe held her back, clearly worried about Rinko. Rinko smiled slightly in thanks, feeling nervous butterflies in her stomach. Nervous because she was still not totally comfortable around big dogs like Carrots, but pleasant from how Tomoe was so observant and caring towards her. No one ever really gave her that much thought aside from her parents. Rinko was fine with that; it’s not as if she was a social butterfly, she preferred being on her own, not having to worry about others judging her or bothering her. But somehow, Tomoe made her feel like she could maybe be with other people, maybe even have friends after all.

Rinko kept her head down as she prepared the ramen. It offered her about ten seconds of reprieve as she turned on the stove and poured the water, then there was nothing to do but wait.

Tomoe seemed comfortable to sit together in silence. It was a miracle to Rinko, that the other girl wasn’t uncomfortable, but something about her presence made Rinko herself feel a bit more at ease as well. Tomoe sat down on the grass, brushing her deep red hair behind her ear as she looked up at the cloudy sky. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and seemed to know that, but not in a way that made her seem obnoixous or condescending. Rather, she seemed to be content, with herself and the world around her. Peaceful. When Tomoe glanced at her, Rinko realizes how long she had been staring, and looked down with a yelp.

“Do you mind if I go do something real quick while we’re waiting for it to boil?” Tomoe asked, pushing herself up and dusting off her black jeans.

“Oh, sure, of course,” Rinko nodded.

Tomoe took Carrot’s leash and they headed off towards the entrance of the camp, Rinko guessed to go to the bathroom or something. Regardless, she was relieved that she was leaving for a moment to alleviate the awkwardness of Rinko getting caught staring at her.

When Tomoe came back, the water had already boiled. To Rinko’s surprise, she arrived carrying a pack of firewood from the camp store.

“No, no, no, th-that’s way more than a pack of ramen, y-you shouldn’t have bought that!” Rinko jumped up, waving her hands. Tomoe dropped the logs on the ground, the dog hurrying over to sniff them.

“What? I felt like having a campfire, is that wrong?” Tomoe grinned. “Unless, of course, you don’t want to. I wouldn’t want to impose if you’re tired and want to go to bed or something.”

“No... I’m fine, but…” Rinko trailed off, trying to remember how much the firewood packs cost here. She rarely bought them, so she couldn’t remember, but they were never exactly cheap.

“Seriously, it’s the least I can do for interrupting you and letting this knucklehead ambush you,” Tomoe chuckled, nudging Carrots with her foot. Rinko smiled as the dog jumped around before realizing that it was just Tomoe.

Once Tomoe's ramen was finished, she ate it fast. She must have been hungry. Rinko watched her as she slurped up the noodles with vigor, barely stopping to breathe, but somehow not making a mess of her face. Somehow, she made cup ramen look tastier than Rinko had ever thought it could be.

Tomoe let out a sigh as she finished them, slamming the cup on her knee. “Thanks for the food,” she said. "Even if it's instant, ramen is seriously the best."

Rinko nodded. “N-No... no problem.”

Tomoe started to unpack the firewood, and Rinko excused herself to grab a bit of kindling from the forest. When she got back, Tomoe had arranged the logs into a beautiful tower, looking very proud of herself. It only made it that much harder for Rinko to tell her that she would have to deconstruct it so they could build it around the kindling.

Once the fire was set up, Rinko gave Tomoe a blanket, and they sat down across from each other. The crackling of the fire was another addendum to the idyllic camp scene they were a part of. Neither of them talked for a minute, just relaxing and staring into the fire, or around them at the scenery.

“Sorry again, about Carrots, earlier,” Tomoe broke the silence.

“Oh... I’m fine,” Rinko said. She shivered slightly, drawing her blanket up higher around her shoulders. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Tomoe.

“Are you cold? Here, take your blanket back,” Tomoe said, getting up and wrapping it around Rinko’s shoulders before she could protest.

“Aren’t you cold too?” Rinko looked up at her. Tomoe brushed her worries off.

“I’m fine. Anyway, I really should be taking Carrots back home, before she gets too tired to walk all the way. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to carry her part of the way,” she laughed. Rinko's eyes widened slightly. _Carrots was a big dog... And besides, how often was it her responsibility to walk her sister’s friend’s dog?_

“But, the fire’s just started, and…” Rinko stood too, holding the blanket Tomoe had given back to her.

“Maybe we can do this again sometime, then. And enjoy the fire properly,” Tomoe smiled, extending her hand. Rinko was confused for a moment, before she realized that she was holding her phone open, asking for Rinko’s number.

“O-oh!... Oh…” Rinko drew her shoulders in, feeling strange. “Sure...” and she entered her number. “I-I’ll get yours, too,” she grabbed her own phone, rushing to unlock it and fumbling, dropping it on the grass.

“I got it,” Tomoe picked up her phone for her, smiling. She was standing really close. Rinko stared into her eyes, until Tomoe smirked, poking her with her phone and Rinko remembered what was happening. Rinko blushed and stepped back as she grabbed it, unlocking it and giving it back to Tomoe to put her number in.

“Alright,” Tomoe smiled at Rinko one last time, sliding her phone in her pocket. She took Carrot’s leash and headed off. “I’ll see you again!” She called as she began to walk away, turning and waving at Rinko. Rinko waved back, a small smile on her face.

She felt strange. No one had ever really befriended her like this, in real life, and certainly not interrupting her camping. It was new. It was strange. Rinko looked at her phone, smiling to herself as she saw that Tomoe had named herself “That cute girl I met while camping (Udagawa Tomoe).”

Rinko hoped to see her again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the dog is sayo's. hina named her
> 
> Also, I'd love it if you let me know if you think Rinko is in character. I feel like I might not have made her seem shy enough, but it seems like it's mostly around crowds, and since she's just with one person, it might be easier.
> 
> If people like this, I'll definitely continue it!! Let me know what other characters you'd like to see introduced as well :D


	2. Chapter 2

_Tomoe: hey, does our school have any sort of camping club?_

_Moca: u mean ur not gonna found the bread club with me anymore? noooo :,-(_

_Himari: stfu moca_

_Tsugumi: Well, there’s technically the outdoors club, but there’s no members or advisor. It’s been a few years since it was active._

_Ran: It’s winter. Why do you want to go camping._

_Tomoe: I don’t_

_(read sunday, 7:46pm)_

* * *

 

The clock chimed five p.m., but Rinko didn’t particularly notice. It was part of the background noise of the mostly quiet library that she worked at as part of the library committee. She was the only one at the desk today, but it didn’t matter, because unlike pre-exam season, it was deserted.

Rinko wanted to say that she was absorbed in her book, but the truth was, she couldn’t stop thinking about her encounter camping over the weekend. She had hardly slept that night, lying awake and debating texting Tomoe, who had exchanged phone numbers with her. She spent all day equivocating, typing and backspacing, until before she knew it she was back in school and had missed her chance to text her over the weekend.

Rinko sighed, looking around to stretch her neck. She wished she had more friends. Would it be weird to text her after waiting so long? Or was it not long enough? Should she wait for Tomoe to text her, or was she expected to make the next move after Tomoe had struck up a conversation last time? Rinko had no practice with this. She felt powerless, so stuck between different ideas that she couldn’t pick any of them. _Besides,_ she thought. _Remember who you are. You’re not the kind of person who does well with social interaction. You definitely can’t text her back first. It’s probably for the best if you just delete her number and forget the entire night ever happened._

When she heard the door opening and people coming into the library, Rinko quickly ducked her head back down into her book. _Oh no... I will have to talk to someone and check their book out after all_. Rinko prayed that the person was just returning and they would slide it in the book drop without coming over to her.

“... and then, and then! I texted Hii-chan about it, and she told me it was super cool! So I screenshotted it and sent it back to Sayo-san, and I was like, I told you! I told you it’s a good idea!”

Rinko’s eyes widened as Tomoe and a shorter girl with pigtails strolled in. Tomoe locked eyes with her and looked just as surprised, pausing, but the other girl just walked right up to Rinko’s desk.

“Hey, are you part of the library committee? Can you help us?” Rinko blinked and looked away from Tomoe, but the other girl barely acknowledged her small movement and took it as a cue to continue.

“So the story is, my big sister randomly met this super super cute and smart girl at a park who apparently likes to read a lot, or something? But my sister doesn’t like to read, so we need to get whatever famous or classic books there are, so she can sound smarter and more classy, right?”

“Ako, Ako,” Tomoe muttered, stepping forward and putting a hand on Ako’s shoulder, all the while staring wide-eyed at Rinko. Rinko was appalled, unable to speak as a furious blush came over her face.

“So like, are there any good books you would recommend? Stuff like, I dunno, like, Lord of the Rings, or old books like that that a lot of people have read?”

“Ako, stop,” Tomoe whispered, and Rinko noticed that she was blushing herself.

“What is it, Onee-chan? Are you okay?” Ako finally stopped talking, looking back at her sister.

“Ako, that’s…” Tomoe trailed off, not knowing how to explain the situation.

“What? What?” Ako asked, staring curiously up at Tomoe.

“Uhm, ahaha,” Tomoe laughed nervously. “E-excuse us, for a sec.”

Tomoe dragged Ako around the corner and came back a moment later, alone. Rinko hadn’t moved an inch, frozen in mortification.

“I’m so, so sorry about Ako. She’s my little sister, and she’s… excitable,” Tomoe chuckled, avoiding eye contact a bit.

“I… I-I…,” Rinko choked, slowly raising her book in front of her, praying desperately for a meteor to hit the school and just kill her.

“I-It’s okay, I told her to wait outside for me,” she said, crossing her arms and looking at the floor. Rinko could still barely breathe, holding her book in front of her face so her eyes barely peeked over the top.

“I’m… I-I’m… s-s...sorry…,” Rinko whispered, feeling like she was about to cry and hating herself for it. Why can’t she be normal? Anyone else would be able to laugh it off and start talking, so why couldn’t she speak? Her lip trembled as she lowered her face into the book, hiding behind it.

“H-hey! No, no, don’t be sorry! _I’m_ sorry!” she sounded concerned, and Rinko wished she would just forget about her. “I didn’t know you went to school here, anyway,” she said, getting back to a normal tone. “I mean,” she paused sheepishly, “I don’t really come to the library that often, so I might not have noticed you before. ”

Tomoe started talking like nothing was wrong, and somehow it broke through Rinko’s negative thoughts a bit and helped her calm down, although not without any confusion. _Why doesn’t this perfectly normal, happy girl just leave me alone?_

“But yeah, I’m a first year here, and my sister is a third year at the middle school.”

 _That_ threw Rinko for a loop, enough to make her lower her book.

“Y-you’re… younger… than me?” She questioned with wide eyes.

Tomoe’s face lifted slightly when Rinko looked at her, and it made her stomach flutter. Still, it felt wrong that Tomoe was younger than her. There was no way, right…?

“Haha, yeah, I get that a lot. I guess it’s ‘cause when I was a kid, I hung around a lot of adults at the shopping district, since I play the taiko drums at all the festivals. Plus, a lot of my friends are pretty childish, so I was always the responsible one of the group.” She got a wistful look for a second, smirking briefly at some memory. So she was younger than her. She seemed so mature, though; her presence was oddly reassuring.

“But, uh, anyway, so you’re part of the library committee. Do you do any other clubs?”

“...No…,” Rinko whispered, lowering her book to the desk but looking down. “...I just... camp… sometimes.”

“Hey, don’t say “just,” I think that’s really cool that you camp!” Tomoe said, leaning casually against the desk Rinko sat behind. “Especially by yourself, and in the winter, too. It must be hard sometimes,” she smiled as Rinko briefly glanced up to meet her eyes, before looking away.

“I-I like… camping… in the winter,” Rinko said, meaning to follow it up with reasons, but finding herself clamming up.

“Oh, really? Well, I guess there are benefits to that, too. No bugs, right,” Tomoe grinned, tilting her head. Rinko nodded quietly. She didn’t really mind bugs herself.

“I… really hate bugs. I wouldn’t do well camping by myself at all!” Tomoe laughed, but suddenly stopped, glancing around. Rinko tensed, but Tomoe then continued. “Ah… I totally just raised my voice in a library,” she whispered, and Rinko let out a breath.

“It’s okay… there’s no one else here,” Rinko reminded her.

“Still, talking loudly in a library makes you feel like you’ve done something wrong, doesn’t it,” Tomoe sighed, biting her lip. Rinko found herself charmed by Tomoe’s sudden display of vulnerability. She looked seriously regretful about it.

“It’s okay…” Rinko repeated, smiling slightly.

Tomoe glanced back at her, and chuckled nervously. It got quiet again, and Rinko remembered the night they sat together, how quiet it had been, and yet comfortable. Rinko wasn’t used to feeling comfortable in mutual silence, she had always thought of it as a failure on her part, a disability that she couldn’t overcome, a wrongdoing, a weakness, an inability to have a conversation, a failure that made her a bad person, or bad at being a person...

Tomoe met eyes with her, and Rinko quickly looked away, blushing. She heard Tomoe push herself away from the desk and adjust her backpack.

“It’s, uh…” Tomoe began, and Rinko looked up. Tomoe seemed conflicted for a moment, before brushing her bangs aside and quickly saying, “Nevermind. Forget it. I, uh, I should be going, though. Don’t wanna keep Ako waiting,” she said.

Rinko waited for the door to shut behind Tomoe before letting out a breath, slumping onto the desk. Later that night, she thought of some books to recommend to Tomoe, but never ended up texting her.


	3. Chapter 3

 

_Tomoe **:** Wait have you never read lord of the rings? It seems right up your ally_

_Ako **:**  i triiieeeeed!!! but the books are boring hfdskhdkls,,,,, the movies are super cool tho! can we watch one tonight? pretty please?_

_Tomoe **:** We'll see, I have a lot of hw_

_Ako **: :** c_

_Tomoe **:**  Maybe we can watch one this weekend :)_

_Ako **: :** CCC_

_Tomoe **:** ... Fine, let's watch the first one_

_Ako **: :** DDD_

* * *

 

 “Dance club, dance club...” Lisa muttered to herself, craning her neck as she speed walked past the rows of doors in the club building. She had just transferred schools due to her parents moving, and she was excited to join the dance club and get something familiar back in her life. Confusion poked at her when she neared the end of the hallway without seeing any signs for it. Had she missed it? She was pretty sure she remembered something about there being a dance club here. She looked back down the hall, pursing her lips. As she turned back around to look at the last few doors, she saw that the sign on the last door was faded, and she had to get close to make it out.

“Out... doors... club?” Lisa sounded it out. _What is that?_   She wondered. She tried the door, but the handle was stuck. She noticed that it wasn’t locked, but the door was jammed from the inside. She tried to peer through the small window on the door, but she couldn’t see anything inside the dark room. She jiggled the handle, curiosity getting the better of her, and after a minute of forcing and rattling the handle, she was in.

Lisa looked around the small room and began to cough. She hastily grabbed her shirt and held it in front of her nose, catching her breath as dust particles caught the soft winter sunlight before settling around her, blanketing the room like snow. She stared incredulously as she traced a finger across the table and the thick layer coated her finger in soft grey. “Yikes...,” she muttered. How long has it been since anyone was in here?

Her curiosity overcame her disgust and she began to explore the room, keeping her shirt over her mouth to filter out all the dust. The most impressive thing about the room was a very high end looking tent, disassembled and thrown sloppily against the wall. There was hiking equipment, as well as various outdoors magazines, the most recent one dating four years back.

Lisa saw that the room had once belonged to some sort of outdoors club. She began to get a sense that she was trespassing, but it seemed that there were so many treasures in the room waiting to be discovered, if only she could hide in here for awhile longer.

* * *

 “Let’s see, 1984, 1992, 1995,” Kanon hummed to herself as she set up the old tennis trophies. The club was gaining more members, so they had relocated to a new club room, and as the reluctant team manager, Kanon was overseeing the unpacking. Actually, she herself was doing all the unpacking, but she didn’t mind. Or, at least, it’s not as if she could have refused. They had sent the rest of the team home, as practice had been cancelled due to the sudden thunderstorms, but her and Misaki, one of the first years that had taken to Kanon, had stayed back to get a head start on the work. Misaki had stayed back in the classroom to talk to the teacher, so Kanon left to start by herself. She wasn’t too fond of hanging around the club building alone, considering how old and creepy the unused room next door was. As she worked, however, she started to relax, until she heard a noise, and froze.

She held her breath, listening intently while trying to convince herself it was just her imagination. After all, despite the rumors, everyone knew that the unused club room next door wasn’t actually haunted...

Even so, Kanon definitely heard the doorknob rattling.

Heart pounding, she crept over to the door, trying to quiet her rapid breaths. Oh god, the door to the tennis room was open, what if the ghost had seen her? What if it could see through walls? Wait, it was probably a good thing that it was open, because it would make it easier for her to run away. Kanon felt frozen in place with anxiety as she forced herself to peek out the door. She squeezed her eyes shut, and when she managed to open one, she saw the door, the creaky door that lead to the dark, abandoned club room that no one used, the door that was locked and whose key had been long lost, that door...

...was open.

“Ahh!”

Her screams mixed with a boom of thunder as she immediately scrambled to run away, She didn’t make it more than a few feet.

“What the hell?!” Misaki grunted as she dropped the bulky boxes she was carrying and fell to the floor as Kanon crashed into her.

“Run, Misaki!” Kanon didn’t apologize or look back, grabbing Misaki’s arm and pulling her away.

“K-Kanon, wait-!” Misaki rushed to her feet, confused.

“Oh my god, are you guys okay?”

Kanon almost tripped again as she frantically turned around, expecting a towering, menacing ghost, but it was nothing but a confused and worried human girl.

“O-oh,” Kanon panted, her heart rate coming down, “S-sorry, I just... thought you were...,” she paused for breath in between her words, and trailed off, embarrassed. “You know...”

She looked between Misaki and the other girl, who were both staring at her like they had no idea what she was talking about.

“Okay, okay, let’s get this cleaned up,” Misaki broke the silence, seeing that the conversation was going nowhere fast.

Lisa offered to help, and despite Misaki and Kanon’s protests, stayed until they had finished unpacking all the boxes.

“Well, it was really nice to meet you guys! We should hang out again sometime, maybe get some coffee? I’d love to hear more about the school,” Lisa said as she grabbed her bag.

“That sounds lovely. Please can we, Misaki?” Kanon smiled, batting her eyelashes at the more hesitant girl.

“I guess,” Misaki glanced at Kanon as she stacked the last of the empty boxes. “You were an amazing help today, Lisa. You’ve already done more this season than most of the other team members.” Lisa waved it off, but Misaki was serious.

“Maybe I should join. I can’t believe there’s no dance club! What a bummer.”

“Oh, trust me,” Misaki said, “You don’t want to join the tennis club.”

Lisa laughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll take your word for it. Well, see you guys later, it was nice to meet you~!” She winked as she headed out the door.

“Bye, Lisa!” Kanon waved back. She smiled after her, continuing to wave as Lisa’s footsteps faded away. Meanwhile, Misaki chewed her lip. The new club room felt distant, even as she was standing in it. Kanon was the only reason she stayed in the club, as much as it hurt her to say it. She had loved tennis, but the rest of the members drove her up the wall with their laziness and petty disputes. When she looked at the sweet, blue-haired girl still waving down the hallway, Misaki couldn’t even consider leaving her behind with the rest of them. But it didn’t change her truth. She couldn’t last much longer. She needed a new club.


	4. Chapter 4

_Lisa **:** [img01]_

_Lisa **:** Look! This is my gf I love her so much !!_

_Misaki **:** I wish I had a gf..._

_Kanon **:** I wish I had a gf **:** l_

_Kanon: Oh, we sent it at the same time ^^;_

_Lisa **: :** 3c_

* * *

 Tomoe stared blankly at the science homework she was supposed to be doing. Normally, she would never take so long to do a simple fill-in-the-blank sheet with answers from the textbook, but she couldn’t seem to focus. Her eyes wandered, she couldn’t sit still, her pencil was covered in bite marks that she normally would never make. She couldn’t discredit herself, though. This day hadn’t exactly been normal.

She tapped her pencil on the paper, watching without really seeing as the shadow it cast got longer and shorter. The overhead light was giving her a headache, making her feel sleepy at the same time it made her jittery, the unnatural fluorescent light compounding her anxiety. Her coffee mug from last night was still there, cluttering the space. She stared at the ringed stain on the empty cup, focusing on it intensely without thinking about it at all. It wasn’t enough to say her thoughts weren’t on the same track when they couldn’t even be described as a train. More like a flock of birds that were all flying in different directions, yet connected in the shape and color they took...

_I wonder if Rinko is good at science?_

_Does she drink coffee? How does she take it?_

_What’s she doing right now?_

_Does she have a desk in her room? What does her room look like?_

_Is she asleep yet?_

She clicked the home button on her phone, and a few seconds later blinked sleepily as she dragged her gaze over to it. It was past 11 already. Rinko seemed like the kind of person who would go to bed early, but Tomoe had a feeling that that wasn’t the case. Her speech, her style, it all seemed to fit so well into that classic good girl, traditional archetype that Tomoe couldn’t help but feel that something was off. She wasn’t off in a bad way, but she was mysterious, and definitely hiding a lot. At the very least, she was certainly repressed as hell, and Tomoe figured she probably had a good deal of anxiety, but that drove Tomoe even more crazy about her. She wanted to know who she really was, if only she could break free from all that.

Letting out a sigh, Tomoe stretched her arms above her head. She’d finish this worksheet on the train tomorrow. There was no way she could think about much until she got some of these thoughts out. She opened her messages, typing in her name to start a new chat.

> Tomoe: Hey, Rinko! So... I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry for what happened earlier. I definitely did not want to embarass you or make you think I was like stalking you with the books and stuff. Honestly if you don’t want to reply to this or ever see me again that would be reasonable, lol. But if you can forgive me I’d love to just start over, because I think you’re a really cool and interesting person, and I’d love to get to know you, as friends. No pressure though, I promise *thumbs up emoji*

She felt nervous, but had no qualms about sending the message without thinking it over too much. It was how she felt, and Tomoe didn’t like to beat around the bush or over think her feelings. If nothing else, she had to at least apologize. Tomoe let out a heavy breath, getting up to go lay on her bed. She dropped down on her back, laying with one arm behind her head and the other draped over her eyes to block out the light. Yes, she didn’t get anxious over texting, but reflecting on the day’s events tied her stomach in knots. She felt so bad for embarrassing Rinko to the point that she cried. She hadn’t shown it, but she was freaking out at the time. It was painfully obvious that Rinko didn’t have much experience with social relationships at all, let alone romance, and for Tomoe to come on so strongly and scare her plagued her with regret. God, she had messed up. She had brushed it off and changed the topic as best as she could, and Rinko seemed to pick up, but still, she wished it all could have gone differently.

_~Ding_

A few minutes later a response arrived.

> Rinko: I’m sorry for overreacting before... if you really still want to know me, that’s fine, but I’m really not as cool or interesting as you think. Sorry for making you think that.

So she was still awake. But her response was troubling. Tomoe quickly typed.

> Tomoe: No no, it’s not your fault at all!! And there’s nothing for you to apologize for. What, you think I’m that bad a judge of character? Is there any harm in getting to know each other better?
> 
> Rinko: You’re right. I’m sorry.

A fast response. Tomoe chewed her lip, her chest feeling tight. _This poor girl..._  she thought. I wonder if she’s ever really had anyone to tell her she was okay, there was no reason to be sorry for everything. Tomoe wanted to. She wanted to really badly. She wanted to hug her, really squeeze her, and be there for her all the time to reassure her that she had done nothing wrong. To stay with her until she learned that she didn’t have to put herself down so much. To be strong for her, to lift her up when she was low and to be her rock.

Tomoe blinked, disoriented after that thought train had completely spiraled and thrown her off into the dust, winded and not knowing where she was. Leaving her to be attacked by a rabid pack of birds…

_Maybe I shouldn’t try so hard with the metaphors for thinking..._

Then, ... _God, so much for not coming on strong._ She had it bad for this girl. _Whatever! Now isn't the time to be thinking about that,_ she thought, sighing as she reread Rinko’s message. Then, smiling sadly, she replied.

> Tomoe: It’s okay, Rinko. You didn’t do anything wrong.
> 
> Tomoe: So, I know you like camping, but you don’t know much about me, so I’ll tell you about myself.

Changing the subject again, moving to a normal conversation. Tomoe thought it would made it easier on Rinko if she directed things. Talking about Tomoe would let Rinko stop sinking into self-criticism as the topic shifted away from her, plus it would be easy for Tomoe to think of plenty of things to say, even though she wasn’t overly fond of talking about herself.

They talked for a bit about light-hearted topics. Tomoe told her about her taiko drumming, her family and friends, classes, things like that. She held back from asking too much about Rinko. Even though she made sure to tell her that she could end the conversation and go to bed whenever she wanted, they stayed up for quite a bit. Tomoe was pleased as Rinko started apologizing less as the conversation went on. Like before, she seemed to slowly become more comfortable after the initial awkwardness, starting to talk more freely than she had in person. Tomoe hoped for a time when they could talk face-to-face like this.

* * *

_The Next Day_

“Yu~ki~naaa~” Lisa sang into her phone as she walked down the school path. “How was your day at school?”

_“Normal. Except, of course, you being missing.”_

Lisa’s heart skipped as she heard her girlfriend’s voice. No matter how long they had known each other, she never got tired of it. Others could say it was cold, but to Lisa, hearing Yukina speak felt like velvet acupuncture; like being torn into, embraced from the inside out, balancing gentleness and passion in the most beautiful song she could imagine.

She squealed into her phone. “It’s so good to hear your voice. I miss you so bad, babe.”

_“I miss you too, Lisa. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”_

“I have a job interview. I forget if I told you about it. It’s at a convenience store right down the street from my new school.”

_“You didn’t tell me. I hope it goes well.”_

“Thanks! Although, you know what would really give me a mood boost…?” Lisa trailed off, knowing Yukina would understand the request that she had made so many times before.

_“I’m at the station. I can’t sing for you right now.”_

“Aww, come on~ At least hum?”

_“No. If you want to hear me sing, I’ve sent you plenty of videos.”_

“It’s nothing compared to the live thing, though.” As Lisa talked, the world around her seemed to disappear, her legs carrying her along as she lost touch with everything but the voice crackling through her phone. The November air bit at her nose, but the sidewalk beneath her feet seemed bouncy as she spoke with Yukina.

“Hey, how’re my friends doing?”

“...”

“Yukina? You did talk to them, right?” Lisa scolded.

_“... It’s pointless if you aren’t there.”_

And there went her good mood. “Yukina, I told you, they like you! What, are you just not gonna have any friends now that I’m not there to make you hang out with anyone?”

_“I don’t need anyone but you.”_

If the world around Lisa had grown distant since the beginning of the call, with those words it seemed to disappear completely. Lisa stood still in the middle of the sidewalk, her mouth open to speak but words having trouble coming out.

“... You’re gonna make me cry before my interview. Honestly, what am I gonna do with you.” She smiled and shook her head, walking forward. “I’m almost to the store. Gotta go, love you!”

_“I love you, too, Lisa. Call me when you finish.”_

With that, Yukina hung up, and Lisa slid her phone into her backpack. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to put her best foot forward in this interview. As she walked in and waited for her interviewer to approach her, she couldn’t help but overhear a conversation.

“Hey, lovebird.”

“Moca! I said you can’t bring that up!”

Lisa glanced over at a girl who had just walked up to the counter, who was talking to what Lisa assumed was her friend working behind the counter.

“So she’s the reason you’re so interested in camping all of a sudden, huh? I looked her up in the yearbook, she really is cute. Not my type, but I guess you always liked girls with big-”

“Will you shut up and ring up my stuff?”

Camping…? Lisa’s ears perked up at that word. Now that she realized, the girl making a purchase was wearing the same school uniform as Lisa’s. She wondered if she knew anything about the outdoors club. She would have to try to find her later, and also text Kanon about it. Kanon had been excited at Lisa’s suggestion that they seriously should revive the club. Misaki had been more hesitant, but Lisa knew if she could really turn it around and get more people involved that Misaki would change her tune.

Then the manager came up to her. “Ahh, Miss Imai, correct? Thanks for coming out, you can follow me right back here for your interview...”

Her interview went fine, and the manager offered her a job at the end. The only strange part was that he explicitly warned her that she would have to deal with a few other employees who "went at their own pace," as he put it nicely. Lisa could deal with weirdos, so she accepted despite this odd remark, and they shook hands and she promised to check her email, glad to have good news for Yukina. As Lisa left the storeroom, the girl behind the counter waved her over.

"Heey~! Are you gonna be working here with Moca?"

Lisa flashed her a big smile. "Yep! I'll be in your care!"

"As will Moca~" She droned with a smile of her own. "The manager probably didn't tell you, but part of your job duties are to bring your floor supervisor bread every day," she said, a completely serious look on her face.

Lisa laughed. "No, but he did warn me about some of the employees here, I guess he was talking about you, huh?"

Moca turned angry. "Don't talk to your supervisor like that. You know Moca has to file this with HR now, right?"

"Ah, bummer for you," Lisa put her at about a 90% chance of kidding, but she didn't give her the satisfaction of letting that 10% worry show.

Moca tilted her head, slouching on the counter. Lisa crossed her arms and returned her distant gaze with a defiant stare of her own, until Moca blinked, and her demeanour seemed to change.

"Well, it was nice to meet you~" She smiled lazily, and Lisa grinned, uncrossing her arms.

"It was nice to meet you, too! I'll be seeing you, then!" Lisa waved as she bounced out of the store, already pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket to call Yukina.


End file.
